Department of Pediatrics

In the summer of 2020, a commentary in Pediatrics by William Raszka, M.D., and Ben Lee, M.D., led to a flurry of interest around the globe. The duo of pediatric infectious disease experts found that “children are not significant drivers of the COVID-19 pandemic” based on an analysis of early studies from Switzerland, China, France and Australia. They wrote: “On the basis of these data, SARS-CoV-2 transmission in schools may be less important in community transmission than initially feared.”

One of the most alarming realizations of the past year has been the clear link between structural racism in the U.S. and the racial and ethnic health disparities that have led to a disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on communities of color. Thanks to the collaboration of numerous partners in Vermont, members of the New American community are getting the education they need to make informed decisions about their health and the COVID-19 vaccine.

Members of the Larner College of Medicine’s medical Class of 2023, leaders, medical educators, and staff gathered virtually January 28 to celebrate the students’ achievements and recognize the faculty and staff who have supported them during an online Foundations Celebration event.

Medical education leaders and scholars gathered virtually on January 13 and 14, 2021 for the Larner College of Medicine Teaching Academy’s 2021 Induction and Award Ceremony and Snow Season Education Retreat. Co-presented with the University of Vermont Health Network Medical Group, the ceremony recognized medical educators and kicked off the annual education program, which this year featured several sessions on diversity, equity, and inclusion.

A study by UVM faculty members published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry reports that in a group of first-year university students, COVID-19 mitigation protocols had a modest, but persistent, impact on mood and wellness behaviors. Students enrolled in the university's wellness program, however, had improved mood levels and fewer attention problems.

Vermonters have a reputation for showing up for their community – whether there’s a pandemic or not. That’s also true for the faculty and staff of the Vermont Child Health Improvement Program (VCHIP), who have underscored over the past nine months just how important their role is to ensuring providers get access to critical resources and tools that allow them to deliver quality care.

(DECEMBER 11, 2020) William Raszka, M.D., professor of pediatrics, commented on COVID-19 transmission among schoolchildren in a National Review article, titled "The New York Times’ Shifting Narrative on School COVID Closures."

(DECEMBER 7, 2020) Mercedes Avila, Ph.D., assistant professor of pediatrics and director of the Vermont Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (VT LEND) Program, discussed vaccine distribution among underserved communities in a story on local CBS affiliate WCAX-TV.

(NOVEMBER 23, 2020) Benjamin Lee, M.D., associate professor of pediatrics, discusses when it is safe to begin opening schools in an interview with WCAX-TV anchor Darren Perron in a segment, titled "What goes into deciding when it’s safe to open schools."

Can schools safely remain open or reopen during periods of significant community spread of COVID-19? According to predictions from a UVM model of SARS-CoV-2 transmission in the school setting, yes – if appropriate precautions are followed both in school and in the community.

(NOVEMBER 6, 2020) James Hudziak, M.D., Director of the Vermont Center for Children, Youth and Families, creator and director of the UVM Wellness Environment (WE), and professor of psychiatry, was quoted in a National Geographic article, titled "Why Music Might be the Perfect Tool to Decrease Kids' Pandemic Stress."

“Ensuring children are empowered and raised to become healthy, happy, productive members of our communities is one of the most important things we can do,” says assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine James Metz, M.D. “Child abuse needs to be brought out from the underbelly of society. It’s easy for people to say ‘the problem is too big; it’s too difficult; it’s too sad.’ But that’s when you need to step into a problem, not away from it.”

(AUGUST 10 & 12, 2020) Professor of Pediatrics William Raszka, M.D., was quoted in an August 10 Wall Street Journal article, titled “Latest Research Points to Children Carrying, Transmitting Coronavirus” CBS6 Albany story, titled "Spike in COVID-19 cases in children nationally, a pediatrics professor explains why."

(JULY 22 & 27, 2020) William Raszka, M.D., professor of pediatrics is quoted in a July 22 article in “The Cut” in The New Yorker, titled "Their Summer Camp Tried to Be Safe. Kids Still Got Sick," and in a July 27 article in WIRED, titled "Some Countries Reopened Schools. What Did They Learn About Kids and Covid?"

(JULY 10-20, 2020) Significant national and international media coverage was generated in response to the publication of a Pediatrics Commentary, titled “COVID-19 Transmission and Children: The Child Is Not to Blame,” authored by Assistant Professor of Pediatrics Benjamin Lee, M.D., and Professor of Pediatrics and Director of Pediatric Infectious Diseases William Raszka, M.D.

A commentary published in the journal Pediatrics by Benjamin Lee, M.D. and William V. Raszka, Jr., M.D., concludes that children infrequently transmit COVID-19 to each other or to adults and that many schools, provided they follow appropriate social distancing guidelines and take into account rates of transmission in their community, can and should reopen in the fall.

(JUNE 9 & 11, 2020) Maria Mercedes Avila, Ph.D., M.S.W., program director of the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (LEND) Program, associate professor of pediatrics, and health equity and inclusive excellence liaison, was featured in local news stories on COVID-19 and racial disparities in health on Vermont Public Radio and NBC5.

On May 11, awardees from the Larner College of Medicine Class of 2020, faculty and staff were recognized through an online Honors Celebration featuring remarks from Dean Page and videotaped presentations of each award.

Larner College of Medicine faculty members Gregory Holmes, M.D., professor and chair of neurological sciences, and Gary Stein, Ph.D., Perelman professor and chair of biochemistry, have been selected as University Scholars for the 2020-21 academic year.

The phrase “keep your distance” has taken on a whole new and deeply important meaning in the era of COVID-19 and even Match Day, the annual senior medical student rite of passage, was not “immune” to honoring this behavior. On March 20, 2020, members of the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont’s Class of 2020 went virtual to ensure social distancing while celebrating the news of where they will be spending the next three to seven years training as residents following graduation.